Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction
First Advisor
Lily M. Wang
Date of this Version
5-2024
Citation
A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate College at the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Science
Major: Architectural Engineering
Under the supervision of Professor Lily M. Wang
Lincoln, Nebraska, May 2024
Abstract
Spatial hearing provides access to auditory spatial cues that promote speech perception in noisy listening situations. However, reverberation degrades auditory spatial cues and limits listeners’ ability to utilize these cues for segregating target speech from competing babble. Hence, spatial unmasking—an intelligibility benefit from a spatial separation between a target and masker—is reduced in reverberant environments as compared to free field. This work tests the hypothesis that interaural decorrelation, the result of increasing reverberation, will broaden the perceived auditory source width with a cascading effect of reduced auditory spatial acuity and subsequently poorer spatial unmasking. To understand the perceptual consequences of poorer spatial unmasking in reverberation, four tasks relating to functional spatial hearing were assessed in virtual reverberant environments: interaural coherence (IC) discrimination, perceived auditory source width (ASW), auditory spatial acuity, and spatial unmasking. Three primary auditory environments were simulated using ODEON and auralized to vary interaural coherence: a control anechoic environment, a classroom designed to meet classroom acoustics standards (IC = 0.58), and a classroom of the same size with more severe reverberation (IC = 0.37). Individually measured head-related transfer functions were used to binaurally reproduce the auralized signals over headphones to a group of normal-hearing adults. The results indicate that increasing reverberation correlates to increased ASW perception and decreased performance in IC discrimination, auditory spatial acuity, and spatial unmasking.
Advisor: Lily M. Wang
Included in
Acoustics, Dynamics, and Controls Commons, Architectural Engineering Commons, Audio Arts and Acoustics Commons, Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene Commons, Other Architecture Commons, Speech and Hearing Science Commons
Comments
Copyright 2024, Gabriel Seth Evan Weeldreyer. Used by permission